Odd Experience Last Night.

This is a discussion on Odd Experience Last Night. within the Carry & Defensive Scenarios forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Both my wife and I got home from school (both high school teachers) and we were dead tired so we decided to go out for ...

Odd Experience Last Night.

Both my wife and I got home from school (both high school teachers) and we were dead tired so we decided to go out for a spot of dinner. I was sooooo exhausted in fact that I determined I wasn't really up to the alertness level of carrying my gun and doing so safely and responsibly. Anybody here ever experienced that? So we went to a nice dinner.....and took the pup (100 pound Newfoundland) to eat in a sidewalk cafe. On the way home I stopped to fill my tank with gas (price drops!) and as I started to pump, my little voice started screaming the "trouble alert." I'm always in condition yellow and when something happens to agitate that I kick into a higher mode even if I can't quite put my finger on the threat.

So I start looking around, carefully. No other cars at any of the other pumps. Inside the convience store about 50 feet from me were four latino males and they were MOVING as I saw the clerk dive for the telephone. I had the oddest feeling I was watching an aborted robbery in motion and here I was with my wife and beloved pup....unarmed and exposed with the gas hose firmly inside the car and chugging away. As they exited the store on the run I thought to myself they were a SALTY LOOKING group. Real punks. Didn't see any weapons. The clerk is on the phone. when he hangs up he inches out the door and carefully eases to the corner of the lot to see if they're still there and they're long gone. I asked him if he needed a witness and he said "no." So I finished filling my tank and left.

I kept thinking later; WHAT IF? and things got kinda shaky for me. I'm certain that had I been armed, tired or not, I could've dealt with the threat from my position behind solid cover (huge concrete pillar) but I doubt I would have acted unless they threatened to kill the clerk or somebody else or decided to approach me and the wife. Better to act as a good witness. But the fact that I was unarmed by deliberate intent was chilling.

First I would say you were absolutely right not to carry if you felt you were not physically up to it. Fatigue is a big contributor to firearms accidents.

You were also alert enough to know there was some trouble going on. Fortunately the folks left the area versus messing with you. I'm sure you were planning an escape from the moment you realized there was a problem.

Personally when I'm that fatigued you would have a hard time getting me out of the house. Of course living 4 miles from town means that it is all the more tiring for us to go out anyway. So that is just my situation.

Your situation does reiterate that you never know when something is going to happen. Fortunately in your case nothing happened to you, which is good.

Overall, proper and correct choices. This can really get into the James Bond realm, "Well, your wife should be able to drive your vehicle to safety straddling the console, one-handed; and your PPK never leaves you......".

The only "What if" I can see would be if they decided to try to jack you. In that event, it would be your read of the BG's- if you surrender the vehicle, do they let you go? If not, well, you have a gas nozzle handy...."water" everyone in front of you. Let's have a weiner roast......

I'll qualify that by saying that I have found over my many years that when required I can (and have done this) kick into an ''emergency'' mode, shall we say. It is like throwing a switch and all tiredness goes - adrenalin maybe. If OTOH I felt this not to be the case and graded myself as not sufficiently competent then yes, perhaps I would leave the carry that time.

It is tho precisely because of situations such as Ex has related, that I maintain my dedicated carry status, wishing to try and never be without ''just that once'' when I might matter. We really just do not know.

Only today in the local paper was a story about a home invasion in town - an area which generally is low risk for most part. Not a common occurrence but - it reminds me why my carry even at home and in the office, is and remains 16/7.

Bug

Originally Posted by KC135

First, just me, but I would never stop for gas while unarmed. Gas stations are the most robbed venues in the US.

Next, I carry all of the time, again just me.

Well, you're correct about that one...but I was not thinking extremely clearly. I'm thinking of carry a really small BUG in those cases...maybe my NAA mini derringer in .22LR in my pocket. It could be used at point blank range by jamming directly into an attackers eye and pulling the trigger for immediate cessation of the threat. But I'm not likely to engage anything that's not directly in my face.

ExSoldier

I know thay you sure did wish that you at least had a lil' "belly button gun" with you.
I'll bet that it's especially rough thinking about that incident...because your wife was also with you.
Glad that everything turned out OK.
I always carry "something" with me everywhere these days and...no matter how dog~tired I am. I'll at least carry a J~frame S&W stoked w/+P+ or my PPK/S & one extra mag.

BTW....we want to keep you as a forum member as long as is possible. DO always carry from this point forward!

First things first, your families safety is Paramount. If those punks came rushing out of there with AK-47's I first would have ensured my familys safety and got them out of there. However, in your case the guys were empty handed or even if they had pistols they were not concerned with you so why be concerned with them. Get tags and a good visual. I am here to protect my family first. Because in the world we live in just imagine if you had your weapon and them guys came out of there armed and not thinking about you and you approach. Burp, burp, burp wife and dog dead. If I did have my pistol I would have told wife to get down and, watched and observed prepared to defend if I could not have just gotten in the car and left. Then called from my cell. Just because we CCW does not mean we are savior of the world because most people these days (not family and friends) don't appreciate it any way.

Despite what many may expect I agree with Blue's assessment on this one. Here you were OUTSIDE of the store, not trapped inside in close proximity to the BG. In this case taking cover and getting descriptions and plates would be the correct tactic. Were I inside I would have to seriously consider engageing the BGs. Despite being outnumbered I think it's a bigger risk to being a bystander who may be suddenly slain out of hand before I could react.

As to being too tired to carry, I can't conceive of a situation where I would think myself that tired. I've been pretty tired in my time due to lack of sleep and stress, and in those situations I still carried my weapon, stood to my post and engaged the enemy.

In civilian life in order to feel I couldn't carry due to fatigue or the effect of medication I'd have to be incredibly tired or messed up, the equivelent of not having slept for days. In that case I'd also be too messed up to drive, or even think straight, so I'd stay home, get some rest and then take care of whatever business I had to do.

Several years ago in Little Rock, a gas station was robbed in much the same manner as described in the story by 3 black males. Unfortunatley, 3 people were killed.

One was the store clerk, who did exactly as he was told to do according to the tapes that were viewed by Police.

Another was a young woman that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had just purchased a gallon of milk and was about to exit when the 3 armed males charged in.

The last one was a college student that was at the gas pump and just happened to be watching. He was killed as the perps left the scene.

Two of the thugs were caught within 2 days. The third had apparenty left the state. When questioned as to why they killed the people, they simply stated that they didnt want any witnesses. They were high on crack when apprehended and said that they were high on crack when the robbery occurred. Neither one showed any remorse for the victims.

I said that,to say this...

Sometimes just being a witness to a robbery is motive enough for a perp to kill you. If he decides to kill you, you'd better have your gun in your hand at the first sign of trouble. It dosent mean that you have to interevene in the event that you hear shots fired, but if they come out the door and notice that you are watching, the action is going to be fast and furious, escpecially if there are mutiple armed scumbags.

Chances are they are in an altered state of mind and you are going to need all of the advantage that you can get.

Surviving an encounter and living to tell your grandkids about it someday should be your first priority. Being a good witness comes only after your personal safey is ensured. Its a cold hard fact of life that Murphys Law often appears when you least want it to. The ONE time you leave the gun at the house is gonna be the ONE time you need it. Even having the gun with you dosent guarantee anything. What it does do at the very least is give you a fighting chance and if you die...at least you die trying to win.

That is much better than being killed for no other reason than being a witness...

I'm very glad the both of you (and the clerk) came out of the situation unharmed.

If you were dead tired, you shouldn't have gone for dinner and gas. Being exhaused and driving can be dangerous. There's been a couple days I've been driven to and from work because I was too fatigued to drive myself (and with Nashville drivers, you need to be alert!). I also know what it's like to be too tired to cook. Microwave something, even if it isn't that elegant. At least you're at home where you can kick your shoes off and fall asleep on the sofa.

I do believe P95 is right that your body, though tired, will kick into emergency adrenaline mode in an urgent situation, elevating your strength and alertness long enough for you to handle a situation. Maybe you wouldn't take a longer shot or do riskier tactics like you could do when at full physical and mental capacity, but I think you would've at least been able to defend yourself and your family at close range if the thugs decided to confront you.

If you were really, really exhausted and had an adrenaline dump, you might keel over and pass out afterwards - not good. I mention that because I overworked myself with long hours in college and passed out from fatigue. Witnessing your own body slowly slumping to the ground and hitting the bathroom door and not being able to do a doggone thing about it is scary. I almost did it again after overworking in college again and jogging a block. I turned pasty and got really lightheaded, and sounds and lights faded out. I had to kneel to try to keep my head from swimming. It took me several minutes to recover. That's one of my worst nightmares - to pass out in the middle or the end of a life and death scenario because I was incredibly exhausted and overexerted myself. So please - if you're really exhausted, stay home!